Tutorial - How to use downloaded savegame.sav files
Mar 8, 2017 18:45:26 GMT 10
weskeralbert, seda, and 8 more like this
Post by Mr.Curious on Mar 8, 2017 18:45:26 GMT 10
EDIT - this method is now obsolete with the release of @raz0r s trainer v1.3 which feature's include disabling the CRC check for steam ids.
As many of you already know, the saves we use in Resident Evil 4 game are stored in a file called savegame.sav. I noticed that when I tried to download a savegame.sav file and replace my savegame.sav with the one I downloaded that it would not work, and I recently discovered why. When playing RE4 through Steam, each savegame.sav file has a unique user ID embedded in it , one that is unique to your Steam ID, so if you download a .sav file and try to swap it out, it will not work, unless you know how to make it work...
I have found a way to take other savegame.sav files and insert my own steamID in them to make them usable by me, simply using a Hex editor. This method I have outlined now makes it possible to play play RE4 with other people's savegame.sav files without having to use a trainer to switch characters for mods in main-game play. By simply inputting your own coded SteamID info into any savegam.sav file you can play other people's saves, which can include saves with other characters in main-game.
Today my friends, I am going to show you exactly how to do it for yourselves.
The savegame.sav file is usually located in:
C:\ProgramFiles(x86)\Steam\userdata\youruserid\254700\remote.
Before we start, please navigate to that directory and backup the entire 254700 folder in case you want to revert to your original save. You may also wish to consider putting Steam in OFFLINE mode, as I had better results with this OFFLINE. Once the work is done it is ok to go back online, but I noticed things got strange when I wasdoing this with Steam online. (remotecache.vdf file was not updating, and was out of sync..things stopped working).
PLEASE READ THIS ENTIRE TUTORIAL OR AT LEAST THE NOTES BELOW BEFORE YOU START CHANGING FILES!!! THERE IS IMPORTANT IMFORMATION AT THE END ABOUT KEEPING YOUR GAME UNLOCKED
Now on with the Tutorial! There are two methods to do this. One is to start with a blank savegame.sav file to get our coded SteamdID info, and the other is other is to get our coded SteamdID info from a save that already has the game unlocked. Both work, and if you want to keep your game unlocked, please make sure to read the notes at the bottom.
1 - Navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\userdata\youruserid\254700\remote\ and delete the savegame.sav file.
2 - Next, start RE4 and try to load a game and you will see that Saved data does not exist, and it will ask you to create new save data. When promote to create new data, enter YES.
3 - Now exit the game and navigate to the 'remote' folder and you will see there is a new savegame00.sav created there. This is essentially a blank savegame file. The only information in this file is your coded SteamID. We need this info to inject into other savegame.sav files in the future, so we will locate this data, copy it, and store it in a text file for future use.
4 - So the next step is to copy your coded SteamID info from this new blank file using a Hex editor. I like to use HXD which is free and easy to use. If you dont already have HEX editor, you can get HXD editor HERE. So once you have navigated to that directory and found the new savegame.sav file, simply drag it into a HEX editor and make sure the view is 16 units wide. Now we are going to look for three specific offset addresses:
00001E40
00001E50
000FFA90 (this entry is right at the end of the file)
(00001E40 & 00001E50 might alternatively be 00001E50 & 00001E60. It doesn't matter which, but make sure to take note which offeset address you copy your data from).
5 - Next, copy each row of values individually and paste them in a text file somewhere as you will need to access them later. These strings are your coded unique SteamID values that you will inject into downloaded savegame.sav files.
6 - Now all that has to be done is to paste these values over top of the existing values in any savegame.sav file that you downloaded or shared with a friend. So now open any savegame.sav file you wish to use in the Hex editor and navigate to the offset address that your ID data was on. Now simply paste your info on these lines. If the SteamID data in the downloaded file is not at the exact same offset address, simply paste your data where there's is (if it is different it should only be one line up or down).
7 - Once this is complete, press save in the HEX editor and overwrite the blank savegame.sav file in:
C:\ProgramFiles(x86)\Steam\userdata\youruserid\254700\remote with your newly generated savegame.sav file. Make sure to keep your coded steam ID info saved in a text file for any future use.
8 - Start your RE4 game and enjoy your new save !
NOTES:
You can swap out savegame.sav files while the RE4 game is running, thus making it possible to combine typewriter saves. Example:
1- Put savegame.sav #1 file in 254700\remote folder
2 - Load RE4. Load typwriter save 05.
3 - Minimize RE4 game, and change savegame.sav file in 254700\remote folder to savegame.sav #2 file
4 - Return to game and save typwrite save 05 to any slot in savegame.sav #2 file
Special note about unlocked games;
If your game was not unlocked (you didn't finish the game), it is possible to load a savegame.sav file that has this info in it and your game will be unlocked once it is loaded. This being said if you start with a blank savegame as demonstrated in this tutorial, your game should be locked (no Mercs or Extras).
Most savegames that are distributed online are usually unlocked, but in case one of them is not we have to do things differently. To do this we can not start with a blank savegame.sav file to get our coded SteamID info as shown above, but instead must get our unique coded SteamID info from a game we saved that was made in a session that was unlocked. This string of data will look different than the blank ID data, but goes in exactly the same offset address.
Please note I have not included any 'real' data in this tutorial, as my SteamID is mine. I simply used fake values for demonstration purposes.